(Jamaican Observer) Westmoreland Central Member of Parliament George Wright, who has become embroiled in a debate over a video showing a man beating a woman, has been granted leave of absence from the House of Representatives until the matter ends.
Wright, who has been the Government’s backbench since being elected to the House in the September 3, 2020 General Election, is also banned from the Caucasus of the Jamaica Labor Party Government and, as such, will not be in control the Government whip.
House Speaker Marisa Dalrymple Philibert made the announcement at the start of yesterday’s Senate sitting, which followed interaction between both sides of the chamber leading to a joint statement by the women in the House, which read:
“As women in Parliament, we are committed to leadership in our country and are committed to promoting a safer, lighter and more peaceful Jamaica where everyone can live free from fear and where mutual respect and love are practiced among our people.
“We, in this joint statement, continue to deny domestic violence in all its forms regardless of who the offenders are or may be. We express unity with our sisters who find themselves in these violent circumstances. We urge you not to be ashamed but seek support from any trusted source. ”
Wright has not publicly admitted he is the man in the video. However, police said last week that they had concluded an investigation into the matter due to the lack of cooperation by Wright and businesswoman Tannisha Singh, who had both made independent reports about a physical alternate on April 6.
Police had also noted that the video quality of the incident, which had gone viral, was too low to be of much help in an investigation.
Yesterday, Prime Minister Andrew Holness said, “like all thoughtful Jamaicans” when he first saw the video, and after learning that the man was an MP, he was outraged at the demonstration of violence shown by the man, whose behavior displayed ” an exciting new dimension to the issue ”.
The government minister responsible for sex issues Olivia Grange, in a presentation during yesterday’s House sitting, called for an end to the killing and beating of women and men.
He noted that the Government had introduced several initiatives to address the problem, including the establishment of national centers for victims of gender-based violence.
He said one refuge was already “in place”, while another two were currently being renovated to accommodate more victims. Grange also said that a “no excuse for abuse” campaign had already been launched and was waiting for a new era to be introduced soon.
He said, however, that while he believed that all perpetrators of domestic violence should be punished, he also believed that “every effort should be made to rehabilitate the perpetrators”.
Grange also announced that Cabinet has approved the necessary changes to be made to the Domestic Violence Act, which will strengthen the laws. Among the amendments the Government will pursue, he says, is a definition of domestic violence in the Act, to make it clear that it is not only physical, but also psychological, emotional and sexual.
Opposition education spokeswoman Angela Brown Burke said current laws need to be looked at to see how efficient they have been and where implementation gaps exist.
But, among the men in the House there seemed to be a lack of agreement on how to move forward on these issues concerning senators.
Holness criticized social norms, including the feeling that a successful relationship included beats. This, he said, needs to be drawn from the minds of Jamaicans. However, he admitted that Parliament must set the example.
Opposition Leader Mark Golding assured the prime minister that the Government would have the support of the Opposition in whatever efforts are made to make Jamaica a more peaceful and loving society.
But Golding said that while he agreed with Holness that action was needed, he was unhappy with the inaction on the part of the Government, in some respects. For example, he said that a joint select committee has now reported over a year on sexual offense law reform, but none of the recommendations have been implemented.
“This is the kind of inaction we need to change. We need to be more prompt and proactive in responding to real issues when they are identified, ”Golding insisted.
The Speaker asked for a decision on whether both sides of the House were prepared to accept rules governing MPs’ conduct. She said she was ready to try to balance and ease the scales, and was ready to move forward, if that was where Parliament was headed, “because the country is calling for us to be united”.
He said that if there are issues that criminal charges relate to conduct that are not tolerated in Parliament, should he move to suspend that member?
“It’s a serious issue, and I’m just trying to understand where we are going as a Parliament, and how we as a united front are going to deal with the issues before us,” he explained.
However, Golding said that there was only one issue before Parliament at the moment, and that was because it was a national issue that the Opposition wanted to have dealt with.